XioIce – the new Chinese AI friend

Microsoft has recently provided the Beta version of Cortana in China for Windows Phone 8.1. We also saw that the Chinese Cortana symbol looked different, a small yellow smiley instead of a circular ring and the Chinese Cortana is nicknamed as XioNa. Now Microsoft is planning to extend this project with a new name the XioIce. The word XioIce means little ice. XioIce will be a more friendly artificial intelligence service whose interaction will be more subtle. Microsoft has done rigorous research on how Chinese youngsters talk and chat in social networks so that XioIce cane be made as natural as possible.

According to Microsoft, “XiaoIce is a sophisticated conversationalist with a distinct personality. She can chime into a conversation with context-specific facts about things like celebrities, sports, or finance but she also has empathy and a sense of humor. Using sentiment analysis, she can adapt her phrasing and responses based on positive or negative cues from her human counterparts. She can tell jokes, recite poetry, share ghost stories, relay song lyrics, pronounce winning lottery numbers and much more. Like a friend, she can carry on extended conversations that can reach hundreds of exchanges in length.”